Ergonomic Chair Ergonomic Office Chair

ergonomic office chair

With computer use now more intensive than ever the need for healthy, comfortable seating in the office is vital. The term Ergonomic Office Chair has become one that most chair users are aware of, however unlike a lot of office furniture and equipment there is no precise definition of just what Ergonomic Office Seating is or should be. This article will help clarify this for you so that you can find out exactly which key points to insist on when selecting Ergonomic Office Chairs.

This lack of clarity isn't altogether surprising as in reality there are a multitude of ways in which an Ergonomic Office Seat can be designed and created. It is a relatively new science and new research into office ergonomics is being carried out all the time. Office chair manufacturers haven't been slow to see the sales potential for Ergonomic Office Chairs.

Whilst the majority are genuinely doing their best to produce quality ergonomic office products, there are less scrupulous suppliers who are quite happy to take advantage of the uninformed or unsuspecting buyer. Within this Ergonomic Office Seating section of our site you will find everything you need to know about the subject of office chair ergonomics to help ensure that you can easily identify good Ergonomic Office Chairs from cheap junky products that don't deserve even a moment of your consideration.

Ergonomic Office Chairs by Kinesis & Neutral Posture Kinesis Ultima - The Kinesis Ultima ergonomic chair is priced as a mid-market chair but offers component and comfort features that you would typically find on higher priced chairs.

The Ultima series incorporates memory foam into both its seat back and seat pan making for one of the most comfortable chairs on the market. Features include adjustable lumbar, seat slider, soft arm pads as well seat height & tilt and back angle adjustments. The Ultima is manufactured with the highest quality components and is backed with a lifetime warranty along with a 30 day money-back guarantee (less a 30% restocking fee and prepaid freight).

Neutral Posture - We offer three models of the Neutral Posture chair: the 9000, 8000 and 5000 series. Both the 9000 and 8000 chair come with a contoured high-back that provides superior lateral curve at the waist with upper back and lumbar support the 9000 series includes an additional two-way adjustable headrest.

The 5000 series offers a mid-back design found with most task seating and accommodates the majority of users. Each model offers five seat pan designs accomodating for the wide variety of body statures and needs. Neutral Posture offers an exceptional warranty and a 30 day money-back guarantee (less a 30% restocking fee and prepaid freight). So, what might be different for an executive ergonomic office chair?

Well, as we've included the term executive in our office seat description it's assumed that you are looking for a higher quality or specification of office chair.

You probably want an office seat that has been designed ergonomically, is of high quality construction and incorporates the very best features found in modern executive ergonomic office chairs.Let's go back through the five key features one by one and consider the different or additional options you may want to look at.

Pneumatic Seat Height Adjustment

Virtually any office chair nowadays has gas lift height adjustment, however you may wish to consider a more attractive style or finish.

A lot of office chairs typically have a gas lift that is fitted with a outer set of black plastic tubular sleeves designed to nest inside each other. As you lower the chair each sleeves inside the other to conceal the metal gas lift. When you raise the chair the sleeves should rise up too and conceal the extended gas lift, more often than not they stick and don't work unless you pull them up by hand.

On a lot of better quality chairs, the chair manufacturer instead tries to make a feature of the gas lift by finishing the outer sleeve of the gas lift to match the chair's 5 star base. Others offer an ultra slim gas lift.

If necessary you may also want to consider changing the standard gas lift for an up-rated weight or height capacity to suit you own particular height or weight.

Height Adjustable Back

On more basic office seats back height adjustment is carried out by means of a knurled knob fitted to the chair's back, not very pretty.

Higher quality chairs are better designed with the chair's back height adjustment concealed on the inside of the back stem. Others use a ratchet mechanism, this operates by moving the chair back up on a concealed ratchet system within the back itself. Once the maximum height is reached a further lift returns the chair back to the bottom of its height adjustment.

Another popular back height adjustment is by means of a built in button in the chair's back, you simply press the button or buttons and raise and lower the seat's back to suit your individual needs.

Seat Depth Adjustment

The ability to adjust the depth of your office seat is important to ensure you are correctly seated in relation to your leg length.

Most office chair manufacturers use a form of sliding seat mechanism to achieve this. Typically, this is operated by lifting a lever and using your body's weight to move the seat pan to the most comfortable position for yourself. Others adjust by means of a knurled knob which moves the seat pan in and out depending on which way it is turned, this generally works well.

Some chair suppliers provide the adjustment by moving the chair's back forwards or backwards rather than the seat. It's all down to personal preference and any of the options work effectively.

Arm Height Adjustment

Arm height adjustment on executive ergonomic office chairs comes in a variety of different forms. The most basic is by means of a knurled knob, you loosen it, move the arms to where you want them and lock them off.

Push button arm height adjusters are quite popular, the user simply presses the button in moves the arms to the desired height and releases the button to lock the arm height position.

Another type of adjuster is by means of a radio volume style knob that moves and lowers the arm when turned. Yet another follows the ratchet idea where you lift the arm to ratchet up or down to the desired height.

A number of arm mechanisms can also be angled outwards to enable the chair user to get in closer to their desk.

Some even swing completely out of the way such as the HAG so you ultimately have the choice of whether or not you want to use the chair arms or not. This is an excellent mechanism and works well.

Adjustable Tilt Tension

The most commonly used tilt tension adjustment on ergonomic office chairs is by means of a large knurled knob fitted centrally under the chair mechanism. The user simply turns it in one direction to increase the back's resistance and in the opposite direction to lower the back's resistance. This works quite well and the knob can generally be adjusted while still seated in your office chair.

Another tilt tension mechanism adjustment involves a sliding knob control that the user moves to a choice of 3 or 4 positions. This can't normally be altered whilst sitting in the office seat so you would need crouch down to access it.

There are even self tensioning chairs where the user leans right back into the chair and the office chair tension mechanism assesses the user's weight and sets the tension accordingly. This is the easiest method of adjustment, the only downside is that you can't override it if you feel it isn't quite how you want it.